Novak Djokovic US Open Loss: Inside His Private World

As Novak Djokovic recently discovered, sometimes the ball simply doesn’t bounce your way. 

Despite his No. 5 in the world ranking, the Serbian tennis player couldn’t serve up a victory in the opening round of the US Open’s men’s singles draw, losing to Argentina’s Mariano Navone, 25, Aug. 30.

“I didn’t enjoy myself,” the 24-time Grand Slam winner acknowledged to reporters, referencing the slew of ailments he enduring during the four-and-a-half-hour match. 

“It’s something that I’ve been carrying, unfortunately, pretty much every match this year: Vomiting, throwing up, a serious issue there,” he explained. “Then my whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. Yeah, the back just gave up in the end, and shoulder, and I couldn’t close it out.”

Basically, there hasn’t been a lot of love in the sport for Novak as of late. 

“I’ve been dealing with it for many years now,” he told reporters when forced to request a medical timeout ahead of his defeat at the Cincinnati Open Aug. 15. “It causes me a lot of problems, especially when there’s a lot of humidity and heat.”